We've had some excellent news in the Book Campaign as Hachette Livre, the largest book publisher in the UK, have finally produced an environmental policy which includes some great commitments to making sure the paper they use will be forest-friendly. With imprints such as Hodder & Stoughton, Orion and Little Brown, they publish nearly one-fifth of all books sold in this country, so it's a very big deal.
Their new policy commits them to "giving preference to post-consumer recycled fibre" and aiming for Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certification on the virgin fibre they use. As a result, they expect many of their lines to be FSC-certified by the end of next year. As well as paper, their policy also talks about, greater energy efficiency and reducing the company's CO2 emissions.
It's the impact this news will have on the rest of the publishing industry that's really exciting. Over the past four years, we've persuaded companies representing over 40 per cent of the UK book market to go green, namely Egmont, Penguin, Random House, Bloomsbury and HarperCollins. With Hachette now on board, that figure has risen to nearly 60 per cent, and it's these big players who lead the way on developing and improving paper supplies so there'll be even more pressure on the rest of the industry to follow suit.
It just goes to show what a difference a year makes. Last December, I was writing about the fact that no one from Hachette would meet with us to discuss their policies. Now, after plenty of badgering from our campaigners, they've supporting the Book Campaign. A very early Christmas present and no mistake.
